Lieutenant David Guzzardi, a 29-year veteran of the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office and former commander of the office’s Crime Scene Division, retired from the Sheriff's Office last week.

During his 35 years of law enforcement service, Guzzardi earned several commendations for interrupting a burglary in progress, two unit citations and served several years as the office’s first representative on the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force in Nov. 2004.

Guzzardi, a 2002 graduate of the FBI’s National Academy, later assumed collateral duties within the Task Force as a certified full time hazardous material response team member and co-administrator for the Guardian Threat Assessment Reporting System. Guzzardi began his law enforcement career in Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office in 1976 under the administration of Sheriff Alwynn J. Cronvich and worked areas throughout that parish during his employment there. He later served in the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office’s Traffic bureau as a member of the Motorcycle Division.

He joined the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office in 1982 under the administration of Sheriff Charles Wilson in the patrol division and later held several positions to include Patrol Corporal & Sergeant, crime scene technician, patrol narcotic canine handler, and Detective Guzzardi was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant and Commander of the Crime Scene Division in 1998 by Sheriff Greg Champagne.